Julia B's 20 Time Blog

Sunday, June 8, 2014

YAY!!! I'm proud to say this is the last blog post of the year. What a run it has been!! I've been asked to answers few questions so I'm going to put the answers in one big paragraph!

This year 20 Time helped me manage my time more efficiently than in past years. In class my project was hard to accomplish so my in class time was basically wasted time. But my overall opinion of 20 Time was great! It gave me time to do something that I'm passionate about without having to make extra time to do it!!
Aspects of the project that I think should be changed are that from the beginning blog posts should be due every other week! Also I think students should have the freedom to slightly change their project throughout the year (because I know I did). I think that students should also all do their own projects!! No groups! Otherwise the rest I would keep the same! This year I had fun and I'm going to remember it for a long time!! I think more students should do 20 Time but it should be its own individual class not a part of another one because of the time commitment! If I were to give someone advice for their project it would be, push your goals but don't be unrealistic!! Do something you have always wanted to do but don't think you are going to the moon or anything... Lastly I got to speak at my schools TEDx event!! It was pretty cool! I think that it would be cool to host one again! Maybe when we finally get that new projector! (tech bond woo) But the only thing I would change is the timing. The event came the weekend before finals and as if I wasn't already stressed enough I had to remember a speech on top of it!! Anyway I just want to end this blog post with a little thank you to everyone who checked out my blog throughout the year. You supported me and I'm glad I did it but I'm happy its over.
Adios
Ciao
Auf Wiedersehen
Au Revoir
Goodbye,
Julia

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

With only one more blog post until my 20 Time project is complete, I must say its been a whirlwind of a ride. Today I delivered my speech to my classmates and faced my fear of public speaking. Just doing that was an accomplishment. Unfortunately the goal for the speech was 8 minutes. When I practiced at home I recorded my time at 7 minutes and 30 seconds constantly, but when I stepped on that stage today I let my nerves get the best of me. I spoke at the speed of light and breezed through my well thought out speech in 4 minutes and 11 seconds... Nowhere close to my practice time. The cause for this was not forgetting anything, it was that my nerves led me to speak unnaturally fast and I whipped through my speech. But instead of focusing on my lack of public speaking skills I'm going to let you in on the details of my speech.
My slides were all my own photos and there was a story that connected with each of them and the stories all led to the fact that everyone should have a positive perspective on life. Mr. Provenzano told my that my ideas were solid and that my message was good. He said I had wonderful visual support and that the only thing that was missing was length and drive... The more I thought about this the more it sunk in what I really needed to add to my speech. Credibility, why should this audience listen to a 15 year old girl talk about life lessons? I mean, have I really even been around long enough to learn any? What motives and benefits will a person listening gain from this sophomore in Michigan. The answer is: A Lot. It may seem like an odd answer but in my fifteen years of existence here on this earth I have learned so much. I have met amazing people and seen amazing things. I've overcome obstacles no one could imagine and I balance a schedule that most would give up on. Personally I think that is something to be proud of. So to get back to it, I'm going to add a little of my own story to my speech. I'm going to tell this audience that if I can do it, so can you!! I recently heard a man speak, his message was that one day we are all going to tell the story of our lives, and instead of lying and changing things you don't like about it while telling it, why don't you prevent those things from happening in the first place. WELL, I could write more but its 11 and I have school tomorrow (EW) so I will let you know what happens with my speech in my next and FINAL blog post!!!!!!!!!

Monday, May 12, 2014

This weekend I buzzed around like a bee doing so many things! EXCEPT taking pictures... But that's okay because this week I focused on outlining my TEDx speech. The speech is about perspective and I plan to share the stories of the Heildleberg Project, my own personal story, and my trip to Lansing. I also was chosen to be a part of designing the stage I'm very excited to do this because I love to be creative!! Unfortunately this blog post is very short and boring because this weekend I came down with a virus so I didn't accomplish much and I don't feel like writing (oops). Anyway I want to talk about something that happened recently at my school, we had a classmate take their own life. This really made me greatful for my newfound outlook on life. I think everyone should find one thing a day that they are happy about even if it's something small because everytime you smile or laugh it increases your lifespan. So we should all take the time to look on the bright side of any situation. BREAKING NEWS: It has finally begun to warm up here and I'm so excited this means summer scenery and sunshine in my pictures!! That's all for now, until next time - Julia

Sunday, April 27, 2014

This past week my school had there spring break. Unlike some of my friends I didn't go anywhere with palm trees and a tropical breeze. But, because I didn't leave I had the opportunity to go downtown and take some pictures!! Although this week was spring break the highest temperature on my days of shooting was 55 degrees so not to warm... but it's better than -3 degrees so we are making progress!! Here are my shots from the week.

These are some shots I took on a dock on Belle Isle. Again I had my friend Emma help me out as a model.

These two photos were edited so that one object pops out in color and both pictures were taken at the Heidelberg Project.

These four photos are going to help me with my talk!! The first two are sayings I saw drawn on the sides of a shed at the project. The third picture is of a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald I found on the side of a bench at the project. the final picture is of a panel of wood on the ground at the dog house I have pictured before. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to shoot some more in the following weeks!! Until then, -Julia

Sunday, April 6, 2014

So last weeks blog post talked about perspective and I told the story of how I got my inspiration for the topic. This week I'm going to let you in on a little more of my story and how I look at life with a positive view. (WARNING: not about pictures at all but oh well) So my positive outlook on life started almost six years ago. I was in fourth grade and I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. *no it is not because I ate too much sugar* (oy) Ever since then, there has been this burden on my shoulders and I've always had to be a little more responsible than other kids. I had to test my blood sugar 5 times a day and take insulin injections every time I ate and it was really a hassle and it kept me from feeling like a normal 10 year old. But then I was introduced to this camp in the summer for diabetic kids. While there I learned that this disease doesn't have to be a disability. I can live a normal life and I can do what other kids do with NO problems and I hadn't really realized that until I attended this camp. So now every summer I go and meet kids just like me and it's awesome. That was really my first step in looking through positive eyes. Now I try to live my life everyday by surrounding myself with positive people and do things that make me happy!! Second thing I do to try to look through positive eyes is seeing the good in everything. Some people may say that I laugh a little too much, okay I laugh a lot, but it's because I look at everything and see good things about it!! And hey, its proven laughing makes you live longer.

Next topic!!! Okay so procrastination is high like always so I'm going to show some old pictures of friends I've taken!!!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Well, here's to another busy weekend and a late blog. This weekend I competed in the Michigan High School State Figure Skating Competition (woo hoo!) which took up most of the weekend. But, thankfully it was a long car ride there so I had some time to think about my speech.
Last week I had a comment left on my blog, the person said how they appreciate the fact I am showing the good things about Detroit while there are so many pictures of the ruins out there. This inspired my topic for my talk. I'm going to talk about perspective. This topic will be easy to talk about for me because I have a lot to say about it. I think that everyone should look at the world through positive eyes. If you don't know what I mean, think about this. This weekend I was walking through the streets of East Lansing, I had my head down and I noticed hundreds of cigarettes on the ground, disgusted by them I picked my head up and looked at a parking structure. Hidden behind a pillar of the structure, I saw an amazing mural. It was some type of forest with beautiful trees and flowers and water that really captured my attention. But it was hard to see because of the pillar, it was hidden. I thought to myself why would someone hide something so beautiful. If I would've spent my time focusing on the cigarettes and not looked up I wouldn't have seen the masterpiece. This is an example of looking through positive eyes. If we focus on the cigarettes of a city like Detroit we don't look up in enough time to see the hidden murals.
This fits into the saying you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Which applies to the Heidelberg Project.
If I were to show you this picture without any background on what it is, you would think that it looks like any other disheveled home in Detroit. But, what if I were to tell you that it used to be a tourist spot that represented creativity and happiness? You might grow a little more curious, then I would tell you that it was burned down for no reason AT ALL? That might spark even more questions... This is a picture of the Record House at the Heidelberg Project (or what it looks like now). It was a non profit tourist spot that was made for the purpose of showing creativity. This is what it used to look like:
Now, we could spend time looking at the ruins and being sad about what happened, OR I can sit here and be grateful I got to see this work of art before it was burned down. Again, the more we look at the hidden murals of Detroit the less we see the cigarettes. Not only am I applying my new-found perspective to my speech and my project but I've decided to apply it to my life also. I'll try to look at the more positive things in life than negative, because one time if you focus more on the cigarettes, you might miss something great.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Over this past week I have had ZERO time to take pictures. The week was full of testing and half days, and maybe I wasn't testing every single day but who doesn't need a break every once and a while...
So I have nothing to show you but I might as well update you on a few things!! Just recently Mr. Provenzano informed us that our blogs were put in a link in a CNN article. How cool right? I mean you obviously already have found my blog but if you want to read the article here is the link! http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/09/living/genius-hour-education-schools/index.html
Next order of business is the TEDx event we will be hosting at my school! Now not every kid is going to get the chance to speak at it because we have only so many slots. I'm not decided if I'm interested in speaking at it. I definitely would love the experience but I have some stage fright when it comes to public speaking. Like I have mentioned in previous posts the topic of my talk is going to be passion. Just one of my little quirks is once you get me going on a subject sometimes its hard for me to stop.( that might be an issue) We only get about 8 min to do our entire talk and I know I will have one of two problems, not making it to 8 minutes or have trouble stopping at 8 minutes. But I know I will figure it out!
Time for a photo update, the high today is 45 (WOOHOO) the highest it's been in a while. Which is bitter sweet. It's finally getting warm but, I thought I lived next to a lake, not in one!!! Everything is melting and then refreezing at night and its a mess!! But I'm determined to get out there and take some photos! Just not next weekend....(oops) Next weekend I'm hopping on a bus and heading to Indiana for a choir competition so there wont be much photo activity but the next week I will most likely take some photos and share! Well that's it for this update, until next time.
- Julia